dirty towns 'r' us...

[neverwas]

how dirty is the place where you live? i myself live in sydney. now with all its glory and fame i would have to say it is probably right now the dirtyest place to be.
i walk through the city every day going to and from work. i go through various train stations and streets. now is it me or is this city which was once the pride and joy of australia in 2000 gone so far down hill that i dont even want to live here?!
every morning there is an increasing number of homeless people on the streets asking for money or sitting on the corners begging and smelling out streets. URINATING on footpaths infront of people in suits just cause they think the wolrd owes em all a favour!
they ask you for $$$ and if you say no the INSIST on hounding you and FOLLOWING you for at least three blocks till you give in! *grr* (not that i have anything against homeless people)
i walk through Hyde Park in sydneys CBD and see people passed out on seats drunk. every few metres.sleeping on station steps and floors. people sleeping and sun baking naked in day time in the middle of the park!
just this morning there were three guys all sitting on the seats in the park with a wine bag each pouring it straight from the bag into their mouths...*pure class there people* they hadnt showered for days by the looks of it and hounded people a they walk past. throwing shit atthem and abusing them.also this was before 9am in the morning aswell.
the city of sydney is getting more and more dirtyer and filthy every day. it seems the people are coming from the suburbs to the city to live on the streets.the smell of urine at 8am in the morning is enough to make anyone wonder why this city was ever called the PRIDE OF AUSTRALIA in 2000.
i dont know if anyone else has noticed an increasing number of dirt and filthyness where they live, certian areas or what have you. but i for one am tierd of looking at it and putting up with it.

 

[Raz]

Well god forbid that homeless people should be on the STREETS...
Maybe if our government made more than a token effort to address the causes of homelessness and to help homeless people, they wouldn't have to offend your sight.
Maybe if shelters and support services got a decent amount of funding, these people would have a roof over their heads and wouldn't have to be sleeping in parks.
And maybe if people realised that homeless people are still PEOPLE, they wouldn't be treated like fucking vermin. Very unimpressed.

 

[mr_fluffy]

well stars, may i suggest a trip over to my side of the continent, where perth is clean, and new, and full of friendly people :D
/me extends a written invitation to starfalls to make it all official, and give her an out of dirty, filthy sydney.

 

[vurtomatic]

and singapore is almost sterile

 

[Shnouzerpuff]

So true Fluffy.
I have been in Sydney many times before and maintain its a wonderful place to visit but I would never like to live there.
Perth does have its problems but on the whole it really is a pretty good place to be.
/me signs the Save the Sydney Bluelighters petition.
[offtopic] btw fluffy are you going to TT, wouldnt mind actually meeting you [/offtopic]

 

[neverwas]

Originally posted by Raz:
Well god forbid that homeless people should be on the STREETS...
And maybe if people realised that homeless people are still PEOPLE, they wouldn't be treated like fucking vermin. Very unimpressed.
i dont have anything against homeless people. i was mearly stating that the city is getting more filthy every day. it wasnt pointed directly at homelessness but that was a factor.
WHAT I WAS GETTING AT is that city is getting dirty more and more and it seems to me a lot of the shuburbia activities and attitudes and life styles and shit is moving into the city and its appeal and beauty is flying ou t the window very quickly every city has their flaws and problems but its getting worse...
mr_fluffy:

 

[star_beats]

Just to re-cap... what I think starfalls was also pointing out was that yes, homeless people live on the streets and in parks- but does that mean that they have to hound, yell at and abuse the publice who walk by??

 

[plazma]

I don't know where to start, but I'm honestly fucking disgusted with what some people have had to say.

every morning there is an increasing number of homeless people on the streets asking for money or sitting on the corners begging and smelling out streets. URINATING on footpaths infront of people in suits just cause they think the wolrd owes em all a favour!
Alright, so basically you've been keeping tabs on the number of homeless people on the streets of Sydney. I mean, they are homeless, where else do they have to go? If you think they smell, I suggest you take them back to your place so that they can have a shower and a change of clothes, lest they offend the noses of people as obviously sensitive as you. Where the fuck are you supposed to take a piss if most of the public toilets in the city cost money to use, and shops won't let you inside them to use the toilet. As for your last sentence there, that's just such a blatant hypocrisy, coming from a middle class recreational drug user that I won't comment, lest I get this thread locked before more people see it.

they ask you for $$$ and if you say no the INSIST on hounding you and FOLLOWING you for at least three blocks till you give in! *grr* (not that i have anything against homeless people)
In my almost a year in Sydney, I've been asked for money maybe twice, and certainly never hounded for blocks by homeless people. I can't count the number of times I've given money to homeless people though, but it certainly outweighs by at least a factor of 10, the homeless people that have asked me for money. As for your disclaimer about not having anything against them. I'd think it'd be better worded like this.
Not that I have anything against homeless people, as long as they are clean, tidy, mute, and are invisible so that I don't have to have my trite little world intruded upon by the reality of inequality.

i walk through Hyde Park in sydneys CBD and see people passed out on seats drunk. every few metres.sleeping on station steps and floors. people sleeping and sun baking naked in day time in the middle of the park!
These people are HOMELESS, what you do in your backyard, or at your house, they have to do in public, this does include sleeping.

just this morning there were three guys all sitting on the seats in the park with a wine bag each pouring it straight from the bag into their mouths...*pure class there people* they hadnt showered for days by the looks of it and hounded people a they walk past. throwing shit atthem and abusing them.also this was before 9am in the morning aswell.
So you've never been drunk in public huh? Never been fucked up in public? Excuse me, HOMELESSNESS AGAIN, you mentioned before that you knew these people are homeless, so may I draw your attention to the fact that they DO NOT FUCKING HAVE A HOME and hence find it SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT TO CONFORM TO YOUR STANDARDS OF HYGIENE! If I was continually getting small change and abuse from the members of the public, and had no let up, I think I'd definately get drunk and hurl abuse at all you freshly showered, perfumed and clothed rich people.

the city of sydney is getting more and more dirtyer and filthy every day. it seems the people are coming from the suburbs to the city to live on the streets.the smell of urine at 8am in the morning is enough to make anyone wonder why this city was ever called the PRIDE OF AUSTRALIA in 2000.
Frankly, its a big city, I'm sorry, if you want clean, hygenic, WHITE australia, you'd better head for the suburbs, just like everyone else.

i dont know if anyone else has noticed an increasing number of dirt and filthyness where they live, certian areas or what have you. but i for one am tierd of looking at it and putting up with it.
If you're tired of putting up with the dirt and homeless people and everything like that. I highly recommend that you get active, there's a day called "clean up Australia day", if you don't like it being untidy. If you don't like the homeless people around, I recommend that you spend half the money you spend on drugs, on giving to charities that help the homeless.
In short, I'm pretty disgusted.
-plaz out-

 

[nezo]

sydney was never a beautiful city in my mind...2000 was an aberration..a front put on for the olympics.
It's always been an city full of rubbish, graffiti, derelict buildings etc...all the hallmarks of a modern city.
Let's not jump down Starfall's throat for daring to suggest that innocent people shouldn't be abused, spat at, urinated on <- being homeless does not give to people carte blanche to be a menace to society. Plenty of bushes to pee in.
There's goin to be a shit load of hypocrisy in this thread....it is knee deep in it already...
[ 27 February 2003: Message edited by: nezo ]

 

[plazma]

Nezo, nowhere has anyone suggested that 'innocent' people were being urinated on, and spat on.
I don't know about giving them carte blanche to 'menace' people, because I've seen a shitload of 'innocent' people behaving a fuckload worse than any of these examples, and people just take that for granted.
-plaz out-

 

[star_beats]

*anger management.. anger management...*

 

[Russ]

Originally posted by plazma:
[QB]Frankly, its a big city, I'm sorry, if you want clean, hygenic, WHITE australia, you'd better head for the suburbs, just like everyone else.QB]
Plaz, why do you bring race into this discussion?
My thoughts? Well, there has already been a thread on this subject a couple of months ago.
How can I judge from my office, in my Government job and be subjective?

 

[PsychoKitten]

Plazma get of your high horse. You’re obviously missing the point of this thread entirely, stop jumping down peoples throats because god forbid they have an opinion contrary to your own. For a person who’s lived in the city less than a year do you really think your few experiences are a valid cross-section of what is it, 1 million people that live in Sydney now?
As a society we don’t have any pride in keeping our cities clean and they ARE getting worse every day. But before anyone complains about the state of the cities in which we live we should think about our own actions. Do you throw you’re cigarette butts on the ground? Well then you’re contributing. Do you go out and get drunk or fucked up on drugs and act like idiots, disturbing the peace of people around you? Guess what, you are too.
And you know what, not all those dickheads sitting dirty in the park hurling abuse at people and pissing on the streets are homeless, not every wanker who pressures you for money is without a job or place to live.
I have no respect for people who are homeless and living on the streets because they drink/smoke/snort all of their govt payments, I have no respect for people who’ve not exhausted every possible avenue available to them, our government and the opportunities they offer to help people who are down on their luck are a darn sight better than anywhere else in the world and there are many other organisations who offer food and shelter, not enough I know, but do you really think everyone out there has tried it? There are places where for part of your welfare payment (sometimes as low as $50 per week) you can get food, shelter, showers and advice. There are facilities for homeless people to take a shower, other places where food is available they just have to get off their asses and look, or walk into the salvation army and say they need help etc. I wonder how many would be still on the streets if they really wanted to get the hell out.
But I digress, that’s a thought for another thread.
The cities do seem to be getting dirtier and the reach of the city seems to extend further into the suburbs.
There's not point just complaining about it, do something pro-active to change the situation. Isn't clean-up-australia day coming up soon? Grab your bag and tongs and get out there.

 

[star_beats]

^^^
I'd like to have said what kitty just said!
hear hear sista

 

[killarava2day]

PsychKitten- That's all very well for you to be talking about 'welfare' payments but do you realise that the current government has forced thousands of people off welfare payments by raising the proverbial welfare bar. Maybe, just maybe, that's why things seem to be getting worse. More and more people are finding it harder and harder to just survive. I know numerous people who have no income, whatsoever, except that that they can raise by engaging in petty crime such as drug dealing just so they don't end up on the streets. Gee, it must be so hard for you having to look at such dirty people everyday, it must really be a trial for you, you poor thing.

 

[PsychoKitten]

it really is amazing what can happen when people actually read a thread rather than pick out one sentance from one post then don't think before they hit reply

 

[dex]

Its sad to see how people look down on others just because they look "dirty", just because they don't have a home and just because they aren't "normal". Perhaps these people should really look inside themselves and see what dirt find. No one is perfect and no one is "normal". Its hard to imagine what its like to be homeless. perhaps one should spend some time on the streets before you think the world owes these _people_ a favour.
its sad that we live in a world where someone being homeless and "dirty" isn't considered a human being, but a piece of crap that your would rather not look at becuase its not as clean as you or it doesn't smell as nice as you. far out!
unfortunalty i have been there. i have lived on the streets, in a car, under tables at uni and friend's garage with his dog. its not a good thing and you aren't especially proud of it. and the last thing you need is knowing that there is people out there who think they are better than me just because they have $$$, a house and a job.
we can rant and rave as much as we want about how this attitude is wrong and misguided, but unfortunaly, its difficult to change people attitude about things they will never know and will never experience. its amazing how easily this "dirt" that some people find so offensive can wash off with a bit of water and soap.
instead of complaining, help someone and do something positive, otherwise the day will come when no one will help you and you will wonder why
--dex

 

[star_beats]

ok.. so some people are homeless and dirty... I don't look down on them for that. But does that give them an excuse to jeer at us, harrass us for money and abuse us?
[ 27 February 2003: Message edited by: star_beats ]

 

[Vaile*]

Thumbs up to Dex.
Attitude is IT.
I've often found being civil to a person can let you get a little back.
Ignore me with just a touch of disdain and i'll be the first to give you the finger

 

[babu]

Originally posted by PsychoKitten:
it really is amazing what can happen when people actually read a thread rather than pick out one sentance from one post then don't think before they hit reply
Good call